Formation degradation, such as pavement milling, mining, or excavating, may result in wear on impact resistant picks. Consequently, many efforts have been made to extend the working life of these picks by optimizing the shape of the picks or the materials with which they are made. Examples of such efforts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,559 to Sionnet et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,071 to Andersson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,475 to Graham et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,079 to Andersson et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,098 to Beach, all of which are herein incorporated by reference for all that they contain.